


Should We Believe

by stellarmeadow



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Case Fic, F/M, First Time, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-10
Updated: 2013-02-12
Packaged: 2017-11-28 21:46:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/679218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarmeadow/pseuds/stellarmeadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Danny gets engaged, Steve realizes he may have gotten a clue just a little too late. Or has he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thank yous to kapuahi and @jazzsquare for reading and cheerleading as I wrote, and to corilannam for listening to my bitching when the characters weren't cooperating and for the quick read when it was done and assuring me it did not suck. :) 
> 
> The title is from the Train song, Should We Believe. The story is complete, I'm just posting chapters as they're edited. Hope you enjoy!
> 
> ~~~

Steve stood near the corner of the lanai, leaning against the wall, watching the party. He saw Kono smiling at something Chin said, looking relaxed. He also saw the way her hand went to her phone in her pocket constantly, pulling it out every so often to see if she had a message. He'd told her to bring Adam, but her terse response that Chin wouldn't like it, combined with a shuttered expression, had made him drop it.

Chin looked relaxed, but Steve knew now how to look for the cracks. They were there, not wide, but there. But Chin was holding up, better than Steve thought he might if he'd lost someone he loved that deeply.

His eyes strayed to Danny, off in the opposite corner, smiling down at Gabby as he tucked her hair behind her ear. It was good to see Danny happy and settled in Hawaii, making a home for himself and Grace. Clearly Steve had been right to push Danny at Gabby. She made him happy and kept him in Hawaii, two things Steve considered very important.

Their team was the best, and he didn't want to lose anyone, especially the best partner he'd ever had. He'd do whatever it took to keep the team together, including throwing a party for their extended team at Danny's request. He'd thought at first it was to celebrate the outcome of the custody hearing, but it was on a night Grace was with Rachel, and Danny had made a point of ensuring Gabby could come, and Steve had agreed to whatever night that was.

And if Steve had stationed himself by the cooler of beer to get through it, who was going to notice? Or care?

"Hey, sailor," Catherine wrapped her hand around Steve's wrist, knuckles brushing against his stomach, pushing his hand further down into his pocket.

He gave her a smile, turning his head towards her, his eyes still watching Danny. "Glad you made it."

"I almost didn't," she said, launching into a story about something that happened on base. He quickly lost track of her words as he watched Danny move towards them and grab two drinks, giving Steve a smile before he turned and went back to Gabby.

"What's wrong?" Cath asked, when Danny was back across the room.

"Hm?" He frowned at her. "Nothing's wrong. Why?"

"I just told you the Loch Ness Monster ate the Missouri."

He blinked at her. "What?" he asked, as her words sunk in. "Sorry," he said, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. "I haven't been sleeping well."

"I know--I sleep with you, remember?" She touched his face, forcing him to look at her. "Steve, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong that a little sleep won't cure."

She smiled, caressing his wrist. "Well, you'll have a better chance of that now. As I was trying to tell you when you were paying no attention, I'm going to be gone for a couple of days. I have to go back in the morning."

"So then I'll get some sleep tomorrow night," Steve said, forcing a smile as he pulled his hand out of his pocket and laced his fingers with hers.

A clanging noise drew his attention, and he looked across the lanai to see Danny clinking two beer bottles together. "If I could have everyone's attention please," he said, looking a little embarrassed. "I appreciate everyone being here tonight--"

"Even though it's technically my party?" Steve called out.

Danny laughed along with the rest of the group. "And I appreciate the use of Steve's house," he said, acknowledging Steve's comment with a nod. "There's something I wanted to do, and I wanted my family here when I did it."

A familiar warmth settled in Steve's stomach at Danny calling them family. He watched as Danny took Gabby's hand before lowering himself onto one knee. "Gabby, you have been a wonderful friend and you've been patient and kind, and I can't imagine the last year without you. So I was hoping you might do me the honor of becoming my wife."

Gabby's hand flew to her mouth, and Steve could see her eyes shining from there as she nodded, pulling Danny up and into a kiss. Steve felt Cath let go of his hand, saw her applauding, realized everyone else was as well and hurried to follow suit.

Everyone crowded around the happy couple, Catherine leaving his side to join in the congratulations. Steve saw Gabby showing her hand off, and realized he'd missed Danny putting a ring on it.

Steve hung back, letting the others finish their congratulations while he finished his beer. When the group had thinned out a little, Steve approached Danny and Gabby.

"Congratulations," Steve said, holding out his hand to Danny. Danny shook it, and Steve noticed the way Danny's hand felt against his palm, rough and soft at the same time. He looked down at their hands, blinking for a second.

"You all right there, buddy?" Danny asked, laughter in his voice.

Steve shook himself. "Yeah, sorry, fine. Just thinking." He let go of Danny's hand and turned to congratulate Gabby, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Though why you want to saddle yourself with him, I'll never know," he teased her.

"I spend a lot of time with ancient artifacts that don't say much," Gabby said, smiling at him and Danny in turn. "His talking is a nice change."

"Did you two plan that little exchange in advance?" Danny asked. "Because I'll have you know I don't talk any more than anyone in my family. In fact, my uncle Joey could out talk a record. I saw him do it once. It was a--why are you laughing?"

Steve raised an eyebrow at him, sharing a glance with Gabby. "Congratulations," he said again, squeezing Danny's shoulder, letting his hand linger a second before he let go and went back to his corner to grab another beer.

***

_Every muscle in Steve's body was straining, pleasure coursing through every vein as he thrust up into the warm, tight hand around his dick. He'd been on the edge so long, and he just wanted, he needed..._

_"Danny, please, just..." He looked up, Danny's eyes dark and hot, trained on Steve, as if his sole focus in life was to get Steve off. "Please."_

_"Please what, Steven?"_

_God, he loved it when Danny called him that, and Danny knew it, the bastard. Danny was just toying with him now._

_"Please...."_

Steve woke, hips pushing into the sheets, his body just on the edge of release. He gasped, rolling over to see Catherine sleeping soundly beside him, the reality so vastly different from his dream that it killed his need, his dick as confused as his brain, apparently.

He stared at her for a long moment, soft, gorgeous and naked, still smelling of sex from when they'd gone to bed hours ago. She was perfect for him, and he loved her, he really did.

He rolled away from her, onto his side, to stare at the wall. Yeah, he loved her.

The problem was he might actually be _in_ love with someone else.

***


	2. Chapter 2

He saw Cath off with a kiss the next morning, hiding a yawn when she wasn't looking. He didn't want another round of questions about what was wrong, and he certainly didn't want to admit to the reasons he hadn't been sleeping.

Or, rather, the _reason_. Singular. Danny Williams, featuring in his dreams in considerably more lewd ways every night.

Somehow he thought Cath might be a little insulted that he'd been waking up next to her having wet dreams about someone else.

When she was gone, he finished off his coffee and steeled himself for another day of zero personal space with Danny. Something he'd actively encouraged and enjoyed, until he'd realized why. Well, he still enjoyed it, even encouraged it. It was just getting a bit harder to keep from ripping off Danny's clothes and reenacting some of Steve's more intense dreams.

He'd been putting them out of his mind for a week--longer, really, if he wanted to admit it. They'd just been more insistent in the last week, as if his brain was tired of him not getting the message and had decided to leave him no choice in the matter.

Except he'd left it a bit late. Danny was happily engaged. That was that. There definitely wasn't a choice anymore. He'd have to ignore it.

He could do this, he thought, as he walked into HQ. He was trained to compartmentalize.

Only he wasn't, he realized, as he saw Danny, all smiles, talking to Kono. He was trained to compartmentalize in the field, to stuff anything away that doesn't get the mission done. But outside the mission, when there's nothing to focus on, it wasn't as easy.

Especially not with Danny, shirt open enough that Steve can see his collarbone, making Steve's mouth water to the point where he almost wanted Danny to go back to wearing ties to cover that up.

"What's the matter with you?" Danny asked, eyebrows shooting up. "Somebody take your favorite gun away?"

"No, just tired," Steve said.

"Hey, alert the media--Super SEAL actually gets tired! What, no sleep for the last month or something?"

Steve managed a laugh. "Are we going to talk about my sleeping habits all day?" he asked. "Or do those pictures on the screen mean we have a new case?"

"See, even with no sleep, you're still observant," Danny said. "Kono was just starting to fill me in."

"Kieoko Masimoto," Kono said, flicking the computer table screen so two photos went to the overhead monitors, one of a pretty young Japanese woman, smiling, the other of her from a crime scene, throat and face bruised. "Twenty-eight years old, from Japan. She and her husband, Kato, were here on their honeymoon. This morning Kieoko was found in an alley near their hotel, strangled." Kono turned to Steve and Danny. "Kato's still missing."

"Seems like a case for HPD," Steve said, though he desperately wanted the distraction. "Why call us?"

Kono flicked another picture of an older Japanese man onto the overhead monitors. "Kato's father, Daisuke Masimoto, is the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Embassy called the governor and personally requested us."

"Great, so a murder HPD is going to be thrilled for us to take over, and politicians to boot," Steve said, trying to sound annoyed, but finding himself grateful for the complications.

"Looks like maybe I should cancel my dinner plans," Danny said.

And really, it wasn't that Steve was happy that Danny's plans were ruined. He wasn't. But he couldn't lie to himself--he'd be glad for the excuse to keep him around. "Maybe," Steve said. "Or maybe it'll get wrapped up quickly," he added, trying to sound positive.

Chin walked in from his office. "We've located Kato Masimoto," he said. "He was brought into Queen's as a John Doe. HPD found him a mile from the hotel, on the side of the road. Said it looked like he'd been beaten and thrown from a car. His face is pretty messed up; they had no idea who he was until he woke up an hour ago."

Steve looked at Danny. "Let's go talk to him."

Danny followed Steve out to the Camaro, but when Steve went towards the driver's side, Danny said, "Whoa, where do you think you're going?"

Steve stopped at the trunk. "To the hospital?"

"You're not driving," Danny said, moving past Steve to open the driver's side door. "You actually admitted to being tired, which in human terms means you probably haven't slept in a week. It is my duty as a police officer to keep you from driving a vehicle."

Both the rant and Danny's reason for it made him smile. He was so screwed. "Fine," Steve said, putting on his best annoyed face as he dropped down into the passenger seat. "If I nap on the way to the hospital, can I drive back?"

"It's five minutes," Danny said as he started the car. "Even you can't catch up on a week's sleep in five minutes."

"No, but I can catch up enough."

Danny shook his head. "Not going to happen, my friend. You are banished to the passenger seat until such time as you can go two minutes without yawning."

As if on cue, Steve couldn't keep himself from yawning. "Shut up," he said, taking in Danny's grin.

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to." Which was part of the problem. Steve would never find anyone who got him the way Danny did. Cath understood him well enough, but Danny was practically psychic when it came to Steve.

The biggest problem with Danny driving, Steve quickly realized, was that it left Steve with nothing to do, which meant he couldn't stop looking at Danny. He couldn't stop himself from cataloguing all the things that were distracting about Danny--his chin was just begging to be licked, with a perfect line up to his ear, which, of course, would have to be tasted. And his mouth...when he smiled, it was amazing. And then there were his eyes, which where--

"What is wrong with you?"

Steve started. "What?"

"You're staring at me. Like I'm that disgusting pizza you insist on eating. Did you forget to eat when you forgot to sleep?"

"Yeah." Steve grabbed at the excuse. "I haven't eaten, and I was just dreaming of a pizza covered in ham and pineapple, dripping with cheese--"

Danny made a face that Steve did not think was adorable. Really, he didn't. "Stop with the description or I am going to have to arrest you for crimes against pizza."

"I'm pretty sure there are no laws on the books about that, Danny."

"Doesn't mean I can't cuff you," Danny grumbled.

Which didn't help Steve's problem any, as he pictured all the good ways Danny and handcuffs could go. He adjusted himself as Danny turned into the hospital and parked the car.

They found Kato Masimoto sleeping in his room, but he stirred as they walked in. "Mr. Masimoto," Steve said quietly, "I'm Commander McGarrett, this is Detective Williams. We're with the 5-0 task force. We were wondering if you could answer a few questions for us about what happened?"

Kato swallowed, licking his lips before he spoke. "My...my wife and I were walking back from dinner," he said, haltingly, his whisper tinted with a faint Japanese accent. "Men attacked us. Beat us. They put a hood on me and threw me in a van. Over a bump, I hit the doors and they opened and I fell out, and I ran. Hid in a dumpster until they went away." He swallowed again. "I went to look for my wife, but that's the last thing I remember."

"Did you get a good look at any of them?" Danny asked.

"No. It all happened so fast. It was a dark van. That is all I know."

"Where had you gone for dinner?" Steve asked.

"Hula Grill," he said. "We walked down the beach and then back up along the street. They stopped us a few blocks before our hotel."

Steve checked his phone. "You were at the Hyatt?" At Kato's slight nod, Steve said, "Can you think of anything else that might help us?"

"No. I am sorry."

"It's okay. If you think of anything," Danny said, taking out a card and putting on the bedside table, "please let us know?"

He nodded carefully again. "My wife," he asked, and Steve could tell he had an idea what the answer was by the look in his eyes, "the hospital says they do not know what happened to her. Is she...did she...?"

"I'm sorry," Steve said, putting his hand gently on Kato's arm. "She didn't make it."

He saw a tear slide down Kato's temple. "Thank you for telling me."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Steve said. "We'll let you get some rest."

He turned, guiding Danny out of the room with his hand on Danny's back without thinking, before he realized he was sliding his hand down to the small of Danny's back and pulled it away quickly.

Danny was silent as they left, tossing the keys to Steve as they approached the car. "You're letting me drive?" Steve asked.

"I want to make a call."

"Okay." Steve got in the car and started it, pulling away when Danny was inside. He divided his attention between the road and watching Danny out of the corner of his eye as he dialed the phone. He'd just decided it was Grace, from Danny's smile, when Danny said something about canceling dinner that night.

So it was Gabby, then.

Steve trained his eyes solely on the road, but he couldn't exactly plug his ears. Danny's voice was soft and teasing, and Steve envied her being the focus of it.

When Danny hung up, he was quiet, staring out the window in a way Steve knew would lead to either sulking or anger in minutes. "What?" Steve asked finally.

"What what?"

Steve glanced at him. "Look," he said haltingly, "I know you identify with Masimoto because you're getting married, and you're worried."

"I'm not identifying. I'm not worried."

"Right, and that call to Gabby was for what, exactly?"

"To cancel dinner plans. You were sitting right there, don't pretend you don't hear every word I ever utter over the phone in this car, Steven, because I know you're listening over there with your Super SEAL hearing no matter how quiet I talk."

"I'm like a foot away, Danny. You could whisper against the window with your hands over your mouth and I couldn't avoid hearing you."

"Funny how you manage to avoid hearing me every time I tell you to slow down and stop driving like a maniac!"

Steve took a deep breath. "Look," he said, trying for calm. "You can deny it all you want, but I know you're worried."

"Of course I'm worried," Danny says, waving a hand at him. "Are you going to tell me you can't see that happening?" he asked, turning in the seat to use both hands as he talked. "Grace, Rachel, Stan--they've all been used against me and hurt because of me. I must be insane to do this again."

"It's not insane to get married. Millions of cops do it."

"Oh yeah? Tell that to Amy Hanamoa."

"Danny...." Steve sighed, giving Danny a long look as he waited for a light to change. "For every cop's spouse with nothing but a picture and a badge, there are far more out there with a husband or a wife who comes home every night." He wrapped his hand around Danny's forearm. "And no one was hurt because of you. They were hurt because bad people do bad things."

Danny scoffed. "Bad people wouldn't be doing bad things to people I care about if it weren't for me putting them away."

"Really?" Steve asked. "Ron Alberts and Wilson Hines crashed our camping trip because of you? That's funny, I thought you stopped them before they could hurt anyone, including Grace."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Trust you to bring up the one case--"

"One? I can bring up a lot of others. You want the list alphabetically or chronologically?"

"That still doesn't--"

A loud horn blast from the truck behind them stopped them both. Steve looked up and realized the light was green. Judging from the annoyance behind him, it had probably been green for many seconds. He let go of Danny and peeled away from the light, leaving the truck in the dust. "I'm just saying it's not a reason not to get married."

"Unless it is," Danny said. "And anyway, I'm engaged. That's a long way from married."

Steve looked at him a little too long, trying to figure out what that meant. Was he having second thoughts?

"Would you watch the road?" Danny yelled, and Steve turned around just in time to slam on his breaks and avoid hitting a car. "Okay," Danny said, "that's it. You're banned from driving the rest of the day. Clearly you need more sleep."

"Sorry, you just...I mean, you just asked her to marry you last night. Are you having second thoughts?"

"About signing her on for this life?" Danny shrugged, looking out the window. "Maybe," he said after a few seconds. "It's not fair to put her through this."

Steve chose his words carefully, measuring his own feelings against Danny's right to be happy and making sure he was worried more about the latter than the former. "Gabby signed on for this herself," he said finally. "You're not putting her through anything. If you truly love her, then it's not wrong to ask her to live with a little uncertainty, not when it's involved with something so important to you."

"Maybe," Danny said, but he didn't sound convinced.

As he pulled into the parking lot at HQ, Steve hated himself a little for wondering if maybe Danny didn't love Gabby enough to put her through it.

***


	3. Chapter 3

Chin and Kono were waiting for them in the bullpen. "Masimoto give you anything?" Chin asked.

"Not much," Steve said. "Some people in a dark van kidnapped them. Somewhere around the zoo, it sounds like. He's still pretty out of it--they hadn't even told him his wife died."

The second the words were out, Steve winced inwardly. Chin's jaw tightened a little, but it was the only sign that it bothered him. Chin did glance at Danny though, and Steve was sure there was concern in his eyes, but Chin only said, "We think we may have a lead on why he was targeted."

Kono pulled up some images of handwritten letters on the monitors. "Kato's father has received several threatening letters from a terrorist group called Red Dawn."

"How original," Danny said. "They got their name from an 80s movie?"

"You know they remade that, right?" Steve said.

"I refuse to acknowledge that," Danny replied, deadpan.

" _Anyway_ ," Kono said, "Red Dawn, the terrorist group, not the movie, accuses Japan of whaling while calling it 'scientific expeditions.' They've been trying to prove it for a while now, but all of their legal attempts have failed, so they've started threatening violence."

Steve squinted at the letters, but he couldn't make out the text on the screen. "Violence towards Japan in general, or Masimoto specifically?"

"Both," Chin replied. "I spoke with the Japanese embassy, and they said that the group had graffitied a few embassies in Australia, and thrown stuffed whales covered in red paint onto the embassy grounds, but the last two embassy hits have been in Honolulu. Twice in the last month."

"Meanwhile," Kono added, "the Deputy Minister received three letters threatening him and his family if Japan didn't admit to their deception and stop whaling permanently."

"Does he even have the authority to do that?" Danny asked.

Chin shrugged. "Officially, maybe, maybe not. But you know politics. From everything I've heard, unofficially he has the power. Or would," Chin said, his tone turning sarcastic, "if Japan was whaling, which, of course, they assure us they are not."

"Right, and I'm not secretly longing for a Manny's cheese steak," Danny said. "Did they happen to say who they think is leading this little band of rebels? Sorry, terrorists?"

"They were, in fact, very forthcoming with the information they had on the group," Chin said.

"Of course," Danny said, "because then we can clean up their mess."

Chin tapped away on the computer screen until a mug shot of an angry looking man in his mid-twenties popped up, his dark blond hair in need of scissors and shampoo. "Meet Shaun Reece," Chin said. "Leader of the US faction of Red Dawn. He landed in Honolulu five weeks ago."

"We got an address?" Steve asked. At Chin's nod, Steve turned to Danny. "Let's go have a chat with Shaun Reece."

***

Reece lived in a cheap apartment only a few miles from HQ. Steve drove, despite Danny's earlier protest, while Danny sat in the passenger seat and stared out the window. The silence was unnerving, but Steve didn't know quite what subject to use to break it.

Danny's phone buzzed, and he glanced at the screen with it tilted just enough for Steve to see Gabby's name. Danny watched the screen until it sent the call to voicemail, then put the phone back in his pocket.

Definitely not the way most people would treat their new fiancée.

"So," Steve said, focusing far more on a simple right turn than he needed to, "is Grace excited about the wedding?"

"Wedding?"

Steve glanced over at Danny. "A wedding usually follows an engagement," he said slowly. "Is Grace excited?"

"Oh." Danny tapped on the arm rest, looking out the window. "I, uh...I haven't told her yet."

Steve was sure he must've heard wrong. He knew Danny, and he'd fully expected Grace to be Danny's first call after Gabby said yes. Hell, he expected Danny to have asked Grace's permission first. "What?"

"I said I haven't told her yet."

He watched Danny for half a block, but Danny stared resolutely out the window the entire time. "Danny," Steve said, "are you sure this is what you want?"

That at least got Danny to look at him. "Is what what I want?" he asked, and the way his voice was pitched a little higher alone would've been enough for Steve to know something was off.

"Marrying Gabby."

"Why wouldn't it be what I want? I asked her, didn't I?"

His voice still had that same pitch, the words were fast, and his eyes weren't quite meeting Steve's. "You did," Steve said, turning left onto Kapiolani, "but you haven't told Grace and now you're ducking Gabby's calls."

"So, what, you're going through my call logs now?"

"No, I saw you ignore her just now." Though now Steve wondered just how many calls Danny had ignored from her. "Look...." Steve sighed, unable to find a delicate way to put it. "Have you changed your mind about getting married?"

Danny turned in his seat, hands in the air, palms facing up. "Why would you ask me that?"

"Because you seem--"

"I _seem_? Oh, is that all it takes for you to ask a newly-engaged man if he's suddenly changed his mind about getting married? I _seem_ some way to you, so clearly I must have made a huge mistake and I'm just sitting here looking for a way out of it, is that it?"

Danny's hands were flying now. "And all of this because I ignored one phone call?" he said. "Maybe I didn't want to have to hang up on her quickly when we got to Reece's place. Maybe I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make plans anyway so I decided just to wait to talk to her later. Or _maybe_ you should mind your own business!"

Which...Danny had stopped putting up even token protests when Steve didn't mind his own business months ago. And his protests now were way out of proportion, even for Danny. But they were out of time to get anywhere with the conversation now, Steve realized as he turned onto Kaipuu Street. "Fine," Steve said, though he had no intention of letting this go. "Forget I asked." _For now, anyway._

"Thank you," Danny said, looking around as Steve pulled into a parking lot. "There!" Danny said suddenly, pointing.

Steve followed Danny's finger to see Shaun Reece running down the stairs of his apartment building, a set of keys in his hand. Steve pulled in and screeched to a stop, jumping out with his hand on his Sig. "Shaun Reece!" Steve yelled. "Five-0."

Reece took one look at them, spun on his heel and ran the other way. Steve started after him, catching a glimpse of Danny falling in behind at full speed. Either Reece wasn't thinking very clearly, or he didn't know the area very well, because after about four parking lots, he'd run into an area where Steve and Danny could easily box him in. Steve made a motion to Danny to keep going and took a short cut through a narrow alleyway, coming out just in time to tackle Reece to the pavement.

"You should really learn your exits in a new place," Steve said, kneeling on Reece to cuff his wrists behind his back before hauling him up.

"Fuck you," Reece spit out.

"Original," Steve said, grinning at Danny. "Never hear that one."

Danny shook his head. "Let's get him back to HQ and see if he's full more witty one-liners, or if he actually has some useful info."

***


	4. Chapter 4

"Look, Reece," Steve said, glowering down at the guy, who was cuffed to a chair, "we know you had Masimoto kidnapped. If you tell us who helped you, things might go a little easier for you."

Reece's laugh bounced hollowly off the concrete walls of the rendition room. "Masimoto was kidnapped? Awesome!"

"No, it is not awesome," Danny said, and Steve wondered if he would need to restrain Danny before this was over. "He's in the hospital," Danny said, leaning in, his hands by his sides in tight fists as if he was just barely holding himself back. "His wife is _dead_."

Reece's amusement faded, a frown taking its place. "Masimoto's wife has been dead for ten years."

"Not Daisuke," Steve said. "Kato."

"But you already know that," Danny added. "Quit playing dumb."

"Hey, man, I won't lie, I'd like to buy the guys who did it a drink, but it wasn't us."

Danny took a deep breath, and Steve could see the strain in Danny's neck from how much his whole body was tensing up. Steve took a step forward, partially blocking Danny from Reece, creating at least a little bit of a barrier in case Danny lost it. "You've just admitted motive," Steve said coolly. "We've got more than enough to hold you on, and I'm betting the DA is just waiting to sink his teeth into this. So you'd better give me something, or it'll be a long time before you'll be buying anyone a drink."

"The DA's gonna have a hard time proving I did anything when I wasn't even on the island, man."

Steve glanced at Danny, who was still tense, barely moving as he glared at Reece. "That's convenient," Steve said, turning back to Reece. "You just happened to be off island when your boys did the job?"

"I told you, man, it wasn't us." Reece sat back, looking as relaxed as a king holding court. "I was off island. You ask my guys, I bet they'll be able to prove they were elsewhere, too."

"Of course they will," Danny said, and his laugh had an edge to it that worried Steve. "And I'm sure when we rip through their fake alibis like wet toilet paper, we can use it to prove premeditation."

At Reece's laugh, Steve took another step forward, putting his hand on Danny's shoulder. "You won't mind if we check those alibis," Steve said, looking at Reece while keeping his hand on Danny.

"Hey, check away, man." Reece shrugged. "I'll wait."

"Don't go anywhere," Steve said, turning and leading Danny out of the room.

Danny turned around as soon as the door clicked shut. "I know that I frequently remind you that there are rules against police brutality, but I swear I will look the other way if you want to beat the crap out of him. In fact, I'll swear under oath he fell down the stairs."

"Calm down," Steve said, putting his hand on Danny's shoulder again. "We'll get him, without pulling the immunity card."

"There's a first," Danny said. "You're being the voice of reason for by the book behavior."

Steve laughed. "One of us has to be the sane one."

"If you're the sane one," Danny said with a laugh of his own, "we're in trouble."

Steve noticed the shoulder beneath his hand was a little more relaxed than it had been when they'd left the rendition room. He also noticed how warm and comfortable it was, and how little desire he had to remove his hand from it.

Danny glanced at Steve's hand, then turned his attention back to Steve's face. Something in Danny's eyes threw Steve, and he tried to place it but couldn't quite figure out what it meant.

"Get anything from Reece?"

Kono's voice seemed loud as she came down the hall. Steve dropped his hand quickly, turning in unison with Danny to face her. "Nothing yet. Says he has an alibi."

"It looks like he might be telling the truth," she said, looking at her tablet. "Plane tickets put him on Kauai for the last three days."

"Doesn't mean he was the one who used the tickets," Danny said.

"No, but airport security cameras confirm his arrival and departure." Kono showed them a grainy security camera picture that was at least clear enough to confirm it was Reece.

Danny blew out a breath in frustration. "He could've come back here, done the kidnapping, and then gone back under an assumed name."

"Maybe," Kono said, sounding doubtful. "Chin's checking into the appointments he had on Kauai, in case he did."

"Even if he has an alibi," Steve said, "it doesn't mean he wasn't involved. But he's never going to admit to it."

"You can tell he's dying to take credit for it," Danny said.

Steve nodded. "He wants us to think he did it," Steve said, "without admitting to it. And he's not likely to admit to it, too, not without enough proof that there's no gain in keeping quiet."

"Let me in there with him alone for five minutes," Danny said. "He'll admit it."

"He won't. He's a terrorist, Danny. I know the type. He's not going to break."

"So what," Danny asked, "we just let him go?"

Steve thought about it for a moment. "Yeah," he said. "If Chin comes up empty, we let him go. And we keep an eye on him and see if he tips his hand if he thinks he's home free."

Danny's scowl made his words unnecessary as he said, "I don't like it."

"I can see that," Steve said, "but do you have a better option?" Danny looked at him for a long moment before shaking his head. "Then let's go see what Chin has found out."

"Hang on," Kono said, blocking their way. "Before we go upstairs, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Steve and Danny exchanged a look. "What's wrong?" Steve asked.

"Malia's birthday is tomorrow," Kono said, after looking over her shoulder to be sure Chin wasn't coming. "Assuming we have time with this case, I thought maybe we could take Chin for drinks--maybe at your place?" she asked, nodding at Steve.

Steve intentionally avoided looking at Danny, but he still saw Danny almost flinch. "Yeah," Steve agreed immediately, nodding. "Absolutely."

"Great. I'll make sure he gets there," Kono said. "Thanks."

"Of course," Steve said. He should've been paying closer attention--this was his team. "In the meantime, let's go see what he's found out."

***

"I still don't like letting him go," Danny said.

Steve rolled his eyes, not bothering to hide it from Danny. "So you've said about fifty times, Danny," Steve said, spinning in the conference room chair to face Danny, "but you have yet to come up with a better play. HPD is on him. If there's something to find, they'll find it."

Danny snickered, but he didn't argue. He'd been the one to hand pick the surveillance team. And Steve noticed that, despite the time, or the conversation about Malia's birthday, Danny had not called Gabby. He'd seen Danny ignore a couple of calls, but he he'd only made one, and it was to Grace.

As he was reaching for another slice of pizza, Danny's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen, his mouth set in a thin line, and Steve got a glimpse of Gabby's name before Danny excused himself, answering the call as he got to the door of his office.

Steve could see him through the blinds, pacing the room a time or two before coming back out, shoving his phone in his pocket. "Let's trace Kato's last couple of days and contacts again," Danny said, grabbing the slice of pizza and sitting back down at the table.

"Everything okay?" Steve asked.

"Fine," Danny said, busying himself with a napkin. "Wonderful. Peachy."

Steve looked over at Kono and Chin, but they were buried in files. "Who was on the phone?" he asked quietly.

 "Nobody."

"Danny--"

"Let it go, Steven." Danny grabbed a file with a lot more force than necessary.

Steve dropped it for the moment, picking up one of the files and focusing on it instead. A couple of hours of reading and discussing later, Kono sat up suddenly, holding up a file. "I think I've got something."

"Let's hear it," Steve said, tossing his file on the table.

"Kato had been planning to go into business on the island." Kono said. "That's one of the reasons they came here on their honeymoon--he was going to meet with his business partner."

Steve went back through his mental files. "There was nothing in his itinerary about a business meeting, though."

"Right," Kono said, holding up her file again. "Because he changed his mind a few days before his wedding. He sent an email to his partner backing out, and there's a translation here. He said he," she looked at the print out, "'could not tolerate the business.' But the translation could also be 'condone.'" So maybe he couldn't condone whatever his partner was doing. And maybe his partner didn't like it. Or he was afraid Kato was going to spill."

"What was the business?" Steve asked at the same time Chin asked, "Since when do you speak Japanese."

Kono answered Chin first. "I've picked up a little lately."

 _Being with Adam_ , Steve realized, as did Chin, judging by the dark look on his face. "And the business?" Steve asked again.

"A new Japanese restaurant that's opening soon in Waikiki. His partner's name is Eito Fumiya. Lives in Kahala and owns a couple of other businesses."

Steve frowned. "Why would someone like that need a partner?"

"Maybe he needed a partner in Japan with diplomatic ties," Danny said.

"We know the Yakuza use legitimate businesses as fronts," Chin said, giving Kono a look that Steve didn't need a translator to figure out. "Maybe he was hoping the diplomatic tie would ease the way for some shipments from Japan?"

Kono's eyes narrowed as she looked at Chin for a moment before she sighed and shoved her chair back as she stood, pulling out her phone on the way to her office.

"What was that about?" Steve asked, even though he could guess.

"If anyone might be able to finger Fumiya as Yakuza, it would be Adam."

"Right," Steve said. "Any reason why there'd be a problem with her asking him for the info?"

Chin shook his head. "Long story."

Kono walked back in, putting her phone back in her pocket as she joined them. "Adam says Fumiya is relatively new, but he's pretty sure his businesses are Yakuza. Nothing concrete, but the signs are there."

"Danny and I will go talk to him in the morning," Steve said. He started stacking files on the table. "Let's call it a night."

They all cleaned up the files, then Chin and Kono headed out, Steve and Danny close behind. The silence in the Camaro was deafening, Danny staring out the window as if a major crime was about to take place on the street at any second.

Steve opened his mouth three times to try to bring up Gabby before finally giving up. He pulled up to Danny's apartment. "I'll pick you up at 8?" Steve said.

Danny nodded and said goodnight as he got out of the car and went into his place without a backwards glance.

***


	5. Chapter 5

For all that they'd actually had time for a relatively decent night's sleep, Danny didn't look particularly rested the next morning when he got into the car.

"Long night?" Steve teased.

"Something like that," Danny said around a yawn.

They were halfway to HQ when Danny's phone buzzed. He pulled it out and looked, and Steve saw Gabby's name, but once again, Danny didn't answer.

"Danny--"

"Don't."

"What?"

Danny turned in his seat a little to face Steve. "Just don't," he said. "Don't ask, don't push, not now."

"I just--"

"No. Just stop." Danny took a long breath. "I need to be able to separate my engagement from...this," he said, waving his hand around to indicate the case, Steve assumed. "And I can't do that if you keep bringing it up." He glared down at his phone. "Or if she keeps calling."

Steve wasn't sure what to say. Compartmentalizing wasn't easy for everyone. And as much as all four of them lived and breathed work, it really was more about accepting the potential consequences than actually compartmentalizing anyway. There was almost no line between their personal lives and work.

Which also meant that sometimes the job had to be put ahead of everything. "Okay," Steve said, already plotting how to corner Danny later about it.

They found Fumiya's house and pulled into the drive. "The Yakuza pays well," Danny said as Steve stopped the car.

"But then we knew that."

Danny got out of the car, closing it with more force than needed. "Doesn't make it any less annoying."

"I hear you," Steve said as they walked up to Fumiya's door.

Hired muscle answered their knock, the outline of a Walther not quite visible enough for Steve to demand to see a permit. Not that it mattered; low level pawns weren't important anyway.

The goon led them into a living room that looked like something out of a gentleman's club, only with a spectacular view. He had a few seconds to glance around, but of course nothing screamed illegal activity before Fumiya sauntered into the room.

Steve hated him on sight, with his shiny suit and insincere smile. "To what do I owe the honor of a visit from 5-0?"

"Kato Masimoto," Steve said.

Fumiya made a show of looking concerned, which was as believable as his smile had been. "Yes, I'd heard he was in an unfortunate accident. But I'm not sure how I can help."

"You'd been scheduled to meet with him while he was here, but he cancelled," Steve said. "Can you tell us why?"

"Cold feet," Fumiya said. "It happens with investors. The restaurant business is not for everyone. It can be a dangerous risk." The smile was back, even worse than before. "Financially speaking, of course. But I haven't spoken to Kato since he backed out and cancelled our meeting, so as I said, I'm not sure how I can help."

Steve glanced at Danny, who was looking at Fumiya as if he might rip the man's head off any second. "Can you think of anyone _else_ who might've had reason to harm Kato or his wife?" Steve asked, stepping closer to Danny.

Fumiya raised an eyebrow. "'Else'? Should we be having this conversation with my lawyer present, Officer?"

"It's Commander," Steve said, his tone every bit as fake as Fumiya's. "And no. Not yet, anyway." He held out a card. "If you think of anything that might help, even something small, let us know?"

Fumiya took the card, shoving it in his pocket without looking at it. "Will that be all?"

"For now," Steve replied, nodding. "We can let ourselves out."

"Thank you. Please give Kato my condolences on his loss. Such a tragedy."

Steve could see the tension in every one of Danny's muscles. "We'll do that," he said, having no intention of telling Kato anything like that when he upped the security around his room.

He led Danny out of the house, his hand lightly touching Danny's back until they reached the car. They took off, driving for a few minutes before Danny broke the silence. "Why," he said slowly, "is it always the innocent bystanders?"

"Hm?" Steve asked, hoping Danny would keep talking with just a little nudge.

"Kato Masimoto gets involved in a shady deal. Fumiya is almost certainly Yakuza. But the only one dead is Kieoko, because she married into the wrong situation at the wrong time."

Steve considered his words carefully. "Marriage itself is not inherently evil," he said. "People are in the wrong place at the wrong time every day, Danny. But you can't live your life in fear of something bad happening."

"I agree, but you also don't go walking through Chinatown at 3 a.m. flashing a wad of cash, either."

"Getting married is not the same as throwing yourself recklessly into dangerous situations."

"Oh really?" Danny's voice held an edge that put Steve on alert. "Tell that to Kieoko Masimoto. Oh, wait, you can't. She's _dead_ because she married the wrong guy!"

Steve gripped the wheel tightly. Fuck being delicate and dancing around the issue. "Why are you getting married?" he asked.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Why'd you ask Gabby to marry you?"

Danny was silent so long Steve had just about decided he wasn't going to answer when he said, "She makes me forget."

The words were so quiet Steve almost didn't hear them. "Forget what?"

"Not forget, exactly," Danny said. "She just...she makes all the crap go away. There's no stress, no stomach-churning roller coasters, no...anger when I'm with her. She's easy, not demanding. It's different. Easy. Nice."

'Nice' would not be a quality high on Steve's list of reasons to marry someone. "So, you're marrying her because she's convenient?"

"I didn't say that."

"I just extrapolated--"

"Do _not_ put words in my mouth, Steven. I was trying to answer your question, but if you're going to put words in my mouth, we're done."

Steve opened his mouth and closed it again. There was no point in asking again so soon when Danny clearly hadn't even worked out the answer for himself yet.

***


	6. Chapter 6

Chin was waiting for them when they walked into HQ. "Get anything from Fumiya?"

"He's an unmitigated ass who should be shot in the face?" Danny said.

Steve looked at him. "Really, Danny?"

"I'm just saying if you want to throw him in a tank full of sharks or off a real cliff, I won't stop you."

Chin was looking at them oddly, but Steve just shook his head. The last one who really needed a discussion of concern over spouses dying was Chin. "So he didn't actually tell you anything?" Chin asked.

"Nothing directly," Steve said. "Certainly nothing that would incriminate him. But he definitely knows something."

"So you like him over Reece for this?"

Steve nodded. "I don't think we should pull the tail off Reece just yet, but my gut says Fumiya's involved."

"Really?" Danny asked. "Can your gut testify in court?"

Steve raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you really want to argue the accuracy of my gut after recent events?" Because he couldn't resist any chance to point out how right he'd been about Olivia Victor when everyone else had thought he was crazy.

"No," Danny replied, "I'm just saying if we want to put the asshole away we need solid proof."

"Okay, then," Steve said, "maybe you should stop trying to pick a fight with me so we can get on with that?"

"I'm not trying to pick a fight," Danny said, in his most obvious pick a fight tone.

"Oh, really? Then what was that?"

"If you're both finished," Chin said, a little more loudly than he normally would, "maybe we could get back to trying to find the person who killed Kato Masimoto's wife before they kill him, too?"

Steve took a breath, remembering it was Malia's birthday, and while Danny might be worrying about what fate might befall a future wife, Chin was faced with a second-by-second reminder of what _had_ happened to his wife. "Sorry," Steve said, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. "Didn't sleep a lot last night."

He felt Danny's eyes on him, and moved away from him to the computer table. "We should put Fumiya under surveillance," Steve said. "I increased the guards on Kato's hospital room on the way here."

"You think Fumiya will try again when there's so much attention on him?"

"I think that low-level Yakuza will do whatever he tells them and that he wouldn't hesitate to have Kato killed and hope one of them takes the fall for it." He looked around. "Where's Kono?"

"Running late," Chin said, in a tone that sounded more like 'robbing a bank.' "She said she'd be--"

Kono came through the doors, cutting him off. "Fumiya's definitely Yakuza," she said. "Been involved with them for a couple of years, but lately he's been rising fast."

"Great," Chin said, his tone biting, "now if only we had that information in any form we could actually use in a court of law."

"You were the one who asked me to find out," Kono said mildly, clearly not wanting a fight. "I found out. At least we know we're on the right track."

Chin took a deep breath. "Right. And that helps. Thanks. I'll go order the tail on him and let HPD know we have a source who says he's definitely Yakuza."

She gave him a tentative smile that he returned before he walked off, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"We're still on for drinks tonight, right?" Kono asked Steve and Danny. Steve nodded, saw Danny doing the same out of the corner of his eye.

"Did you get anything off Fumiya this morning?" she asked. Steve filled her in on their brief interview. "So we'll have to do it the hard way?"

Steve nodded. "Hopefully he'll screw up and make it less hard."

"Well," Kono said, cracking her knuckles before she started tapping on the computer table keyboard, "let's see what we can dig up while we wait."

***

Hours later, the late afternoon sun was casting shadows on the bull pen and they were still no closer to finding something to directly point Fumiya to Yakuza in anything but the most circumstantial ways. HPD had reported in that the man had been to a stylist and gotten a manicure, then gone to get fitted for custom suits. Steve had had to head off Danny's near apoplectic fit at that news, reminding Danny he was probably intentionally baiting them with the excess, and Danny's anger and frustration was just playing into his hands.

"Let's break for the night," Steve said, rolling his head around to stretch his neck. "Drinks and pizza at my place?"

He could see Chin about to beg off, but Kono was faster to respond. "That sounds great," she said, putting her hand on Chin's arm. "I could use a night with family."

Chin's lips thinned, then softened as he looked at her. "Sure," he said. "I could go for a little while."

Steve looked at Danny. "You in?"

Danny nodded, glancing down at his buzzing phone. Steve saw Gabby's name on the screen before Danny stuffed the phone back in his pocket. "Yeah, sounds good."

"Great." He looked at Chin and Kono. "See you there in a few?"

At Kono's nod, Steve turned and guided Danny to the door. The ride to Steve's was quiet, Danny apparently prefering not to work out his problems out loud and Steve not quite sure how to get Danny to open up without pissing him off before he got anywhere.

Maybe some alcohol would help.

Chin and Kono pulled up in Kono's car just as Steve and Danny were getting out of the Camaro, boxes of pizza in hand. As they all entered the house, Steve hung back, grabbing Kono by the arm. "You okay not drinking much?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, I was planning to drive Chin home."

"Good. If something happens with Fumiya you and I can handle it." Normally they'd all take it easy on the alcohol during a case, but.... "I think they could use the drinks," Steve said, nodding towards Chin and Danny, who'd already gone out onto the lanai with the pizza.

"Agreed." Kono went to join them, and Steve detoured through the kitchen to get two six packs of Longboard out of the fridge before joining them.

Case conversation gave way to the random small talk of families who see a lot of each other, little things that had happened and jokes that only they would get mixed with stories about before they'd all met that they hadn't told each other yet, and some that they had, but patiently listened to again.

No one mentioned the biggest elephant on the beach until Chin brought it up. "Malia would've loved this," he said quietly, only the slightest hint of a slur to his words. "She told me once, right after the wedding, that one of the best things about marrying me was gaining all of you in the package."

It warmed Steve that she'd considered them an attribute to her life with Chin, when she could so easily have seen them as just the people who took him away and put his life in danger. "She was special," Steve said.

"She was," Chin agreed. He finished off his beer and grabbed another one.

Steve studied Danny, face pale in moonlight on one side, bright and colorful from the flickering torches on the other. He took a long drink, glancing at Steve before turning his attention to Chin. "Do you ever regret it?" Danny asked, his words not so much slurred as heavier, his tell-tale sign of having had a few.

"Malia?" Chin asked, waiting for Danny's nod before he took another drink. "I can't," Chin said finally. "I lost her over the job years ago. And this job--you guys--gave her back to me. I wouldn't have had any of the wonderful times I had with her over the last year if it hadn't been for that."

He took a long drink. "I wouldn't trade that for anything, even knowing the outcome. That kind of love doesn't come along every day. When you find it, you have to grab it and hold on, no matter what the cost in the end."

While Steve thought it was exactly what Danny needed to hear, Danny didn't look reassured. If anything, he looked more unsettled, but as he kept stealing looks at Steve, and Steve didn't want to start an argument for worrying about him, Steve looked out at the ocean instead.

He could still see Danny out of the corner of his eye, however, and the glances didn't stop, Danny's face unreadable, the whole thing making Steve grip his beer bottle a little tighter as he fought the urge to stop nursing his second--and last--drink and get completely wasted.

Steve half expected Danny to excuse himself and call Gabby, maybe even have her pick him up, after Chin's comments, but Danny's phone stayed firmly in his pocket, even when Steve could hear it buzz, and Danny's attention stayed more on Steve than anywhere else.

The moon was high overhead and the bottles all empty when they finally broke up for the evening. Kono buckled Chin into her car and waived to Steve and Danny before getting in and driving off. Steve closed the door and turned to find Danny still looking at him with that odd expression Steve couldn't place.

"Couch?" Steve asked, clearing his throat at the hoarseness there.

After a long moment, Danny nodded. "I don't think I'm up for driving home."

"I'd say you're not--a large number of those empty bottles we cleared up were yours."

"And who was uncapping them and handing them to me freely, my friend?" Danny asked, the first real hint of a smile Steve had seen from him in days crossing his face.

It faded quickly, though, back into that look, the one that was starting to do things to Steve's stomach that he wasn't sure he liked. Or maybe he liked it too much. The smile was easier. Safer. "You didn't have to drink them."

"What kind of guest would I be if I didn't drink them?" Danny asked. "Besides, you clearly wanted me to have them." He tilted his head, looking up at Steve, a sort of smile mixing with that look. "Were you, by chance," Danny asked, "trying to get me drunk?"

"Yes," Steve said honestly. "Because you looked like you needed it."

Danny laughed at that. "As long as it wasn't to take advantage of me."

The mental images that hit Steve made him want to cover himself in case of any outward signs, all the ways he would love to take advantage of Danny flowing through his mind in graphic detail. "Good thing you're taken then, yeah?"

He saw the second Danny remembered the problems the alcohol had been meant to make him forget, and Steve mentally kicked himself for reminding him. "Right," Danny said, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I'll, uh, just use your bathroom and pass out on the couch."

Steve watched Danny climb the stairs, his posture and steps heavy, as if he was carrying something large and invisible on his shoulders. Steve waited until he heard the bathroom door close and water start running before he went to the kitchen to clean up the bottles they'd dumped in there and straighten a few other things.

He took his time, until long after he'd heard the water stop in the bathroom overhead. By the time he finished and went into the living room, Danny was on the couch, eyes closed, headphones on his head. The TV, silent except for faint, tinny echoes from the headphones, one of them halfway off an ear, sent flickering light over Danny's face, tense and tight-lipped, even in sleep.

Steve watched him for a long moment, searching for the key that would fix things. Danny had Grace, and he had Gabby, and he should be thrilled with his life right now. And yet he was back to acting the way he had before the custody trial, when he'd thought he was going to have his life ripped apart with loss.

Because Steve wasn't an idiot, despite Danny's occasional comments to the contrary. For all his insistence that this was his home now, Danny would've given in and gone to Vegas if Grace had been dragged there. And he'd have been ripped out of another home and lost the family he'd made here.

And Steve would've lost Danny.

He'd just started adjusting to the idea that Danny wasn't going anywhere, that he would always be there. And that he wanted Danny a lot closer all the time. Then Danny had gone and gotten himself engaged, and Steve still hadn't quite adjusted.

But then neither had Danny.

"Steven," Danny muttered, his eyes closed, his lips barely moving, "didn't anyone ever teach you it's rude to watch people sleep?"

His voice, rough with sleep, made want rise up through Steve's body. "I was just trying to figure out how anyone other than a cat could sleep with their neck at that angle."

"Fuck you."

The want turned into a sharp pang in Steve's gut. "You wish," he said, even though he was the one doing the wishing.

"Go to bed, asshole."

"Well since you asked so nicely...."

"G'night."

"Night, Danno."

***


	7. Chapter 7

He couldn't sleep.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. He slept, but the moment he slipped under, his mind supplied him with a never ending supply of porn, all starring himself and Danny in increasingly creative positions and locations.

By the time he'd gotten to a dream about taking Danny bent over the Governor's desk, Steve didn't _want_ to go back to sleep. He rolled over and looked at the clock, big blue numbers glaring out 3:56 as if they were mocking him. Too early for a swim, too late for a drink.

He had to get up, though--one more dream and he wasn't going to be responsible for what he did to Danny cooped up inside a car that morning. He'd have some tea to kill some time and occupy his brain.

Of course, he realized the problem with that plan as he stepped onto the landing. He had to walk by Danny to get to the kitchen. Okay, no problem. He wouldn't look, and then his brain wouldn't get more images to add to his nightly torment.

He made it as far as the TV before he automatically looked to the couch to make sure he hadn't woken Danny up. He hadn't. But he couldn't stop staring. Danny was clearly sleeping now, and the tension was gone, his face relaxed, his mouth open just a tiny bit, just enough that Steve's tongue could slip right in--

 _Okay, not going there_. Steve averted his eyes, making a beeline for the kitchen. He left the kitchen light off and made tea quietly by moonlight. When it was done, he drank it at the sink, staring out at the ocean behind the house.

He had to get a handle on this, or he'd be of no use to Danny or anybody within a week. Danny was getting married. That was that. No matter what he'd thought, or hoped, he'd seen in Danny's glances, felt in Danny's fingers when they brushed his, it was clearly all his imagination.

Because just two days ago he'd stood on the lanai out back and watched Danny propose to someone. Anything else must be his imagination.

"Expecting Moby Dick to rise out of the sea and shimmy his whale self up here and attack?"

Danny's voice from the door behind him, sleepy and gorgeous, went straight to Steve's dick, making him thankful for the baggy shorts he'd slept in. "Ahab had his reasons, Danny," Steve replied, still looking out at the ocean.

"So you keep trying to convince me." He heard Danny shuffling across the floor until he was standing beside Steve, looking out the window. "All's quiet on the western front," Danny said.

"You're mixing your metaphors," Steve said, giving Danny a glance. "And technically, that's the southern front," he added, nodding at the ocean out the window.

" _Technically_ I'm mixing my literary references. And like anyone can tell what direction it is when the ocean's on all four sides of us." Danny turned around, leaning back against the sink, watching Steve as he stared out of the ocean, staying just in the corner of Steve's eye. "And you, my friend, are avoiding my question."

Steve looked at him, rolling his eyes. "Your question was about a fictional whale in a 160 year old book, Danny. I didn't think it needed an answer."

"Fine, I can see I need to be literal instead of literary. Why are you staring out the kitchen window at the pre-ass-crack of dawn?"

Steve raised both eyebrows at Danny, wondering how he failed to see the irony of practically demanding an answer to what Steve's problem was when he'd been telling Steve to lay off doing the same to him. "Really? You're going to ask me that?"

"I'm pretty sure I just did."

"Tell you what," Steve said, putting his cup in the sink and turning around to lean against the sink, arms folded over his chest, mimicking Danny's pose. "You tell me what's eating you, and I'll do the same."

Danny's eyes narrowed. "Nothing's eating me," he said through clenched teeth.

"Right." Steve huffed. "And I'm just in here for the tea."

"You're still not sleeping," Danny said. "Why?"

"You're still not talking to your fiancée," Steve replied. "Why?"

They stared at each other for a long moment before Danny looked away. "Fine," he said. "But when you get your ass shot because you're tired or distracted or both, don't blame me."

"I'll blame you," Steve said, turning a little, his hip against the sink, "because I'll be too busy watching you fumble around in your distraction, and take the bullet protecting you."

Danny's chest was rising and falling as if he'd run a few blocks after a suspect, and even in the moonlight Steve could tell his face was flushed. Steve waited for the explosion, hoping that maybe a blow up would finally get the problem out in the open, whatever the problem was, and hoping that it would be soon.

Because he just knew Danny would look like that in bed, all pink and so intense that his breathing would change, and he needed to get Danny past that before Steve couldn't help himself and did something both of them would regret.

Then Danny changed, blowing out a long breath. "Sorry," he said ruefully, scrubbing a hand through his hair, making it stick up even worse. "I need coffee. Or more sleep."

He looked adorable, his hair every which way, in shorts and a t-shirt and clearly just out of bed, and Steve needed to get away before he couldn't breathe anymore. "Go back to sleep," Steve said, pushing off the sink with his hip and taking a few steps back for breathing room. "I'm going to take a swim. I'll wake you up when I get back."

He turned, and was halfway out of the kitchen when Danny called his name, and he turned back. "Yeah?"

"I...." Danny shook his head. "Nothing. Tell China I said hello."

Steve rolled his eyes as if everything was normal and made himself walk out at a normal speed. He might feel like the Hounds of Hell were chasing him, but he wasn't about to show it.

***


	8. Chapter 8

When Steve returned from his swim, Danny was in the shower. "So much for sleep," he muttered, heading up to his room to take a shower himself. The smell of coffee greeted him as came down the stairs, dressed and ready to go.

Danny was in the kitchen, wearing the spare clothes he kept in the trunk of the Camaro. "Morning," he said, holding out a cup of coffee.

"Thanks." Steve took a sip, testing the temperature, then a long drink. His stomach was going to be pissed at him, between the lack of sleep and coffee with no food, but he'd live. Plus, it was the closest thing he'd get to a peace offering from Danny, so he'd drink it, especially with Danny watching him so closely.

"I have to run an errand this morning," he said as he finished the coffee. He put the cup in the sink, avoiding looking directly at Danny's unnerving stare. "Lock up when you leave and I'll see you at the office?"

He had to look at Danny to see him nod, and wasn't sure what that look was on Danny's face. It reminded Steve of the look Danny got when he was studying evidence, and that was enough to make Steve beat it out of the kitchen with a hasty, "Later," over his shoulder on the way out.

Since he didn't actually have an errand, he stopped to get food, picking up malasadas for Danny before he headed to the office. The Camaro was there, Danny at his desk when Steve got inside. He stopped at Danny's office and dropped the malasadas on the desk.

"What's this?"

"Breakfast." Steve turned to leave to the sound of the bag rustling.

"Hold it," Danny said.

Steve froze for a second before turning slowly on his heel. "Something wrong?"

"What happened to your concern for my arteries?"

Steve shrugged. "You didn't sleep much. Carbs are a substitute for sleep, at least short term. And I figured you'd argue less about eating if it was malasadas."

Danny blinked at him a few times. "Thanks," he said finally.

"You're welcome." Steve stared at Danny, wanting to say something, but not even sure what. "Danny, I--"

A knock at the door stopped him. "Guys," Chin said, "We've got something."

They followed Chin out to the bullpen, where Kono was flicking pictures up onto the monitors from the computer table. "We went back through Kato's emails," she said, "and referenced them against some of Fumiya's emails that came over from the translators last night. And we found this."

She pointed at a scan of an email with handwritten translation on it. "Before Kato sent the email that he couldn't condone the business, there were a few that made reference to a package. We went back to Fumiya's emails, and he talks about a package and a pouch. So we figured it might be a diplomatic pouch, and that maybe Fumiya had tried to sneak something in already."

"With some help from our liaison at the Japanese Embassy," Chin said, reaching over to flick a picture onto the overhead, "we found out that a routine internal search of their pouches uncovered drugs in an outgoing pouch bound for the embassy here. It was in an envelope for Kato, care of his father, and the envelope contained a hollowed out cookbook with a package of 5 kilos of cocaine inside."

"Did Kato know about it?" Danny asked.

"From the tone of the emails," Kono said, "it doesn't look like it. He seemed pretty pissed about whatever Fumiya had done. That's when he said he couldn't condone the business and backed out."

Steve considered the evidence for a moment. "So if the Japanese had the coke and Kato knew where it came from, why isn't Fumiya in custody?"

"A," Chin said, "he's Yakuza. And B, even if he wasn't, you think the Japanese are going to go public with the fact that their diplomatic pouch was almost used to smuggle drugs?"

"Good point," Steve said, rubbing at the spot where his shoulder met his neck, which seemed to have developed a permanent pain this morning. He stopped when he noticed Danny staring at his hand as it massaged the spot. "I'm guessing that the Japanese are still not very eager for that to come out?"

Chin nodded. "But," he said, "Kato's father holds a lot of clout, and if it means getting the guy who hurt his son and killed his daughter-in-law, he'll release the evidence. _If_ ," Chin said, "we can't find another way."

"Well, at the very least," Steve said, "we have enough to bring Fumiya in for questioning. Call his surveillance team and tell them to grab him."

Chin made the call, getting only through, "Bring Fumiya--" before he stopped, eyes widening. "Well how did he--" he said, Steve, Danny and Kono all watching him intently. "Head for the hospital," Chin said after a moment. "He might go there."

He hung up the phone and shoved it in his pocket. "Fumiya ditched his surveillance. He went around a corner, they followed, and he was nowhere to be found."

"The hospital's a long shot," Steve said.

"I know, but they needed somewhere to go, and it won't hurt to have a little extra back up there."

"True," Steve said. "If he's making a move, then he might go there, and if someone else is cleaning up the mess, starting with killing Fumiya, then they might go after Kato as well."

"We need to find him," Danny said. "We can start at his house and see if there are any clues as to where he might go."

Steve nodded. "Chin, have HPD put out an APB. Kono..." Steve hesitated, but he had to ask, "I hate to ask, but--"

"I'll call Adam. See if he might have an idea where the Yakuza stash their employees who are hiding from the law."

"Or where they might dump the bodies." He smiled at her. "Thank you. I know it's a long shot, since he's no longer part of their organization, but anything he might know could help."

"You got it," she said, looking down as she reached for her phone.

Steve turned to Danny. "Let's go."

***

The drive to Fumiya's was filled with phone calls related to the search. Chin called to report that Kato was untouched and they now had a small army of officers in various places in the hospital keeping an eye out for Fumiya or anyone who even smelled like Yakuza.

Kono called to say that she was emailing them Adam's list of suggestions of where Fumiya might be if he was alive, and she'd passed the list of where he might be if he was dead to HPD.

"You know," Danny said, as they turned onto Fumiya's street, "I can't decide if I'd rather find him alive or dead."

Steve glanced over at him. "If he's dead, we might never know for sure if Kato's safe, or be able to implicate anyone else in the Yakuza."

"But if he's dead, he's one less Yakuza asshole to deal with." Danny sighed. "Though another one will just take his place before his body's even cold."

Which was the bitch of fighting the bad guys, whether as a cop or a soldier. There'd always be another one, and there would be long after you were dead, even if you lived to die of old age.

"All we can do is take them out one at a time," Steve said. It was the phrase that kept him from letting the inevitability of evil get to him.

"And hope they don't take us out first," Danny added.

They got out of the car and approached the door, drawing their guns as soon as they saw the door was wide open. Steve led the way into the house and they cleared the rooms, finding no people but a lot of mess.

Drawers were open everywhere, books were on the floor, the furniture was all out of place, and there was a large hole in the wall between the living room and the kitchen. There were no files, paper or electronic, though--even the office held only empty drawers and no computers.

"Someone's been cleaning up," Steve said.

Danny nodded. "I think we'd better have HPD step up that search of the possible locations for Fumiya's dead body."

***

Steve and Danny were at the fourth possible location for a body dump, and Steve was starting to worry about it getting dark and making the search harder, when Kono called. Steve answered the phone on speaker, holding it out so Danny could hear. "What have you got?"

"HPD found Fumiya's body in the Ala Wai Canal."

"Talk about contaminating evidence," Danny said. "I hope they wore hazmat suits fishing him out."

Kono's laugh was tinny through the phone speaker. "I'm sure they did."

"Tell Max to check him for any forensics anyway," Steve said, even though he had little hope of finding anything. "Did we get anything from Fumiya's house?

"A couple dozen prints, some of them tied to people who are suspected Yakuza, but all low level. No one who's going to do us any good."

Steve sighed. "Okay, we'll be back there shortly." He hung up, pocketing his phone. "For a win," he said to Danny, "why does this feel a little like a loss?"

"Because we ended up with more questions than answers?"

Steve nodded. More questions than answers.

That was beginning to feel like his whole life.

***


	9. Chapter 9

Danny insisted on finishing the paperwork over dinner because he refused to have to walk in to a pile of paperwork for this case the next day. Steve suspected it had more to do with wanting an excuse to avoid Gabby, but he didn't say anything. Yet.

By the time they wrapped up, it was getting late, and with the adrenaline rush of a case over, Steve was feeling the strain of so many nights with so little sleep. But he had to deal with Danny first, before the next case came along, and then the next. Danny was walking proof that there'd always be an excuse to use as avoidance.

Steve ushered Chin and Kono out while Danny was in the men's room, telling them he and Danny would clean up the pizza boxes and plates, and they should go get some sleep. He was starting the clean up when Danny came back into the conference room.

"Where'd Chin and Kono go?"

"Just left. Chin was looking pretty bad, given everything, so I sent them home."

"Oh." Danny rubbed at his neck, and Steve couldn't help staring as his shirt gaped open. "Okay."

He started picking up plates, and Steve cleared his throat, trying to sound nonchalant. "You can head out too," he said. "I'm sure Gabby would like to see you."

Danny dropped the plates onto the table, turning on Steve. "You don't give up, do you?"

"What?" Steve raised his hands, palms up, as if that hadn't been exactly what he'd wanted. "All I said was I'm sure Gabby would like to see you."

"Yes, that's what you _said_." Danny instantly ramped up to full rant form, arms and hands flying about, "but I am fluent in McGarrett, and what you _meant_ was, 'Hey, Danny, why are you dodging Gabby's calls? Why are you avoiding her? Why are you passing out half-drunk at my house?'"

Steve dropped his arms to his side. "Okay, Danny, since _you_ brought it up, why are you doing all of those things?"

"I didn't bring it up! _You_ did!"

"No, all I said was that your fiancée might like to see you."

"Will you _stop_ calling her that?"

Steve let out a breath. "Did you, or did you not, ask her to marry you two days ago?" he asked slowly. "Because I was there, Danny."

"I know, I--"

"I saw you. You got down on your knee and everything."

"Yes, I know, but--"

"There was a _ring_. I didn't imagine the ring, Danny, it was definitely there."

"Will you fucking let it go already?"

"No, sorry, I won't." Steve moved in, making it harder for Danny to get past him, all but trapping him against the table with very little room between them. "I let it go while we had a case on, but there's no case now. Tell me what's going on."

Danny glared at him. "There is _nothing_ going on."

"Don't lie to me."

"Okay, how about this? There is nothing going on that's any of your business."

Steve could read Danny easier than a map, and he saw every tell Danny had, right down to the slight twitch in the corner of his left eye. "That's a lie, too," Steve said, wiping his palms on his pants, getting rid of the sudden moisture there.

"Really?" Danny's laugh was the harsh kind he usually reserved for stupid comments from suspects. "Exactly what do you think there is between my _fiancée_ , as you are so fond of calling her, and me that has anything to do with you?"

His eye was getting twitchier, and Steve was getting more curious by the second. "I don't know, you tell me."

"I told you. _Nothing_."

"And I told _you_ , you're lying."

"Oh, because you're what, a human lie detector now?"

"When it comes to you? Yes."

Danny hesitated just long enough for Steve to see that had hit home. "I am so happy," Danny said slowly, "that you think you know me so well. But I assure you, you are mistaken."

"I'm not." Steve was starting to see a pattern, and he wasn't sure if it was just wishful thinking, but it was one he definitely wanted to pursue. "You don't want me to call her your fiancée, you're not answering calls from her, you're avoiding talking about her, you're not sleeping, and you're in _my_ kitchen at 4 a.m. Not hers. Mine." He took a deep breath. "What's going on?"

"Fuck off."

Danny moved to brush past Steve, but only made it half a step before Steve grabbed Danny's arm, stopping him in his tracks. It left Danny pressed against Steve's thigh, and Steve couldn't help leaning into the warmth of him a little, his body on automatic pilot, seeking what it wanted so desperately. He was so fucking tired, and his body was pushing him to act on things he had no business acting on. And he didn't have the mental defenses to wall it off.

"Let me go, Steven."

"Tell me what's going on."

"I said let me go."

"Tell me what's going on."

"Get your fucking hands off me, or...."

"Or, what, Danny?"

Danny's eyes were dark, only the slimmest rim of blue around the edges. His hand landed on Steve's hip as if he was going to try to push him out of the way, but instead he found his fingers on the strip of skin between Steve's cargo pants and his shirt.

The touch sent a shock through Steve, Danny's fingers callused and rough against his skin. He shivered, felt an answering shiver reverberate through Danny's body--or was it just an echo of his own? He couldn't think right, his brain fogged by the smell of Danny and that fucking look in his eyes, the one that was practically daring Steve to do the one thing he absolutely could not, should not....

Danny's fingers slid, dipping below the waistband of Steve's pants, and that did it. Steve leaned forward the half an inch he needed to capture Danny's lips with his own.

He tasted better than anything Steve could have dreamed, pizza, beer and coffee, and something that tasted like electricity, jolting across his tongue and through his body the way a current had done when he'd stuck his finger in an electrical socket as a kid.

Danny's fingers were all below Steve's waistband now, sliding across to the middle of his back and moving a little lower, centimeter by centimeter, and Steve pressed back into them, wanting Danny's hands on his ass.

He felt Danny vibrate, and pressed into that sensation for a moment before realizing it was Danny's phone in his pocket. Danny realized it at the same second and pulled his hands out of Steve's pants, shoving him away, staring at him wide-eyed. "What the fuck?" Danny said.

"I, uh...Danny..."

"What. The. Fuck?" He sidestepped and skittered away, putting a chair between himself and Steve. "I'm _engaged_ ," Danny said, running his hand through his hair.

Did he think Steve didn't know? Hadn't Steve been the one reminding him of that? "I know, look...I'm sorry. I just--it won't happen again, okay? I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry. I'll--we can forget it ever happened, all right? I'll see you tomorrow, and it'll be like it never happened."

Steve turned and fled the building as fast as he could without going into a full on run.

***


	10. Chapter 10

Steve ignored the calls and texts until they stopped. He didn't want to hear how pissed Danny was, didn't want to know if Danny was leaving 5-0, or worse. Danny could be rational, so Steve just hoped that with a night's distance separating them from what happened Danny would see the bigger picture. It wasn't important, it was just an aberration.

He didn't hold out a lot of hope on that, but he still hoped.

A generous amount of whiskey gave him a few hours of sleep on the couch, which still smelled like Danny, fuelling the dreams he no longer wanted to ignore. He'd rather sleep and lose himself in the dreams instead of the alternative.

The closer he got to HQ, the more he wanted to turn around and go home. But he was a SEAL, the last thing he was going to do was take the easy way out. He'd acted, and actions had consequences. Whatever they were, he could face them.

And yet that determination almost fled his mind completely when he saw Danny standing at the door to Steve's office, watching him walk down the hall. "We need to talk," Danny said, as soon as Steve was close enough to hear.

"There's nothing to talk about," Steve replied.

He brushed past Danny to reach for the door, but Danny stopped him, gripping his forearm, the mere touch sending sparks through his body, reminding him of the kiss last night in vivid detail. "You may not want to talk about it," Danny ground out, sounding just as excited as Steve was about the prospect, "but we _have_ to talk about it."

Steve pulled out of Danny's grasp, opening the door to his office, but ushering Danny in instead of shutting him out. If he was that fucking determined to talk, then at least they could do it in some semblance of privacy.

"I don't see what there is to talk about," Steve said, hands folded over his chest. "It was an accident. It won't happen again."

Danny's laugh was harsh. "An accident? Like, what, you tripped and fell on my mouth?"

"Danny--"

"No. You got your chance at twenty questions last night, and I even kindly gave you a night to come to grips with whatever the hell is going on in your brain. Now it's my turn to ask the questions."

"There are no questions to ask."

There was that laugh again, and Steve hated it. It left him cold. "Just because the Great and Powerful McGarrett declares things does not make them so. You realize that, right?"

Hands clenched into fists tightly under his arms, Steve gritted his teeth for a moment. "Okay," he bit out, ready to take whatever punishment he deserved for his stupidity. "Fine. Ask away."

"Last night," Danny said, rubbing his hands together slowly, "was that--"

The door opened, and Steve's head jerked around to see Kono, a welcome interruption. "We've got a bank robbery turned hostage situation."

Later, Steve would feel guilty for being so glad for the misfortune of the hostages, but he still couldn't stop a huge surge of relief from at being saved. "What do we know?" he asked, following her out of his office and down to the bullpen, Danny close behind, just at the edge of Steve's periphery vision.

"The main branch of the Bank of Hawaii was hit about twenty minutes ago," Kono said as they approached the computer table.

"Main branch?" Steve said. "That's three blocks from here."

She nodded. "Four unidentified suspects in ski masks entered through the front doors, took out the cameras, and demanded all the contents in the safe." She was typing on the computer table as she spoke, then she flicked the screen and blueprints of the bank appeared on the overhead monitors.

"The manager was still in his office there," she said, pointing one of the rooms, a little removed from the main lobby, "and he set off the silent alarm, grabbed his cell phone, and is locked in a supply closet here."

Kono pointed to a closet not far from the manager's office. "He's feeding info straight to HPD dispatch when he thinks he can't be overheard," she said. "But they're searching for him, and it's only a matter of time before they realize that's where he's got to be and that lock isn't going to hold against so much as a strong kick."

"What does he know about the robbers?" Danny asked.

"Not a lot," she replied. "Just that they were specific about wanting the contents of the safe, not just all the money."

"So there must be something else in the safe that they're after," Steve said. "Kono, have dispatch ask him what else special is in there, then gear up and let's go."

***

By the time they arrived at the bank, the area was cordoned off, bystanders milling around behind yellow and black police tape, pointing camera phones and trying to get a better view.

"And we wonder what's wrong with society," Danny said, as they stepped under the tape and approached the makeshift command center--one of the police cruisers with papers and equipment spread across the hood. "People are only interested in recording other people's misery and making themselves rich and famous with it.

"Society isn't that bad," Steve said.

"Really? I need to introduce you to something called Big Brother."

Steve glanced at him, seeing that the banter was as much an attempt at normalcy for Danny as it was for Steve. Last night wasn't forgotten, just put aside for the mission.

"Duke," Steve said, seeing Lukela hovered over a laptop. "What's going on?"

"We had him give us a list of what's in the safe, at least what he could remember." Duke turned the laptop so Steve could see it. "It's a relatively short list," Duke said. "But one thing stood out."

"I'll say." He looked up at Chin, Kono and Danny. "There's about five million in diamonds in the safe for a show next week."

Danny sighed. "Can we maybe ban diamond shows from the island for a while?"

Given the camping trip, Steve thought maybe Danny had a point, but he ignored the comment. "If that's what they're actually after," he said, "that'll be small and easy to carry. So they won't need all the money and other contents, which would be a lot harder to remove. They may be planning a diversion by trying to get all the rest of the contents out, hoping it'll get them some sort of escape route with just the diamonds in the confusion."

"But we can't be sure," Chin said.

"No, but we should keep an eye open for that anyway." Steve looked at Duke. "Do we--"

"Sergeant," a female officer with a phone held to her chest interrupted. "The bank president says he thinks he's about to be discovered."

"Is he on that phone?" Steve asked. At her nod, he held out his hand for the phone. "Sir, this is Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett of 5-0. Before you're caught, I need you to leave your phone on and put it somewhere on you where it's not likely to be found."

There was a second of silence before the man whispered, "I'll do my best."

"Okay, good. We'll keep listening, and we'll get you out of this, okay?"

"Yes, sir, it's just--here they come." Steve heard banging. "I'm hiding the phone."

The phone made several noises, and then Steve could hear the crash of broken wood, muffled by fabric. The bank manager was calm enough, promising to cooperate with whatever they wanted. Steve could hear arguing, not all the words distinguishable, but he caught 'diamonds' and 'merchant.'

Steve muted the phone so he wouldn't be heard. "It's the diamonds," he said. "I heard them talking about it. They also said something about Merchant. It's possible they've got a car or something waiting on Merchant Street. Duke, have some officers look for anything suspicious."

Duke went off to coordinate a search, and Steve turned to his team. "If they have an escape plan in place, there's no telling what they have planned for the hostages." He kept the phone to his ear, listening for words that might help.

"I'm betting I can guess," Danny said.

"Let's hope we're wrong," Steve said, knowing they had the same thought in mind.

Steve listened to sounds and muffled voices, until he heard the sound of a heavy door closing. He heard more footsteps, and then two other voices joined the first two robbers. "They're all together now," Steve told his team. He heard 'Merchant' again, and 'car,' signs that they might be on the right track about the getaway.

"Kono, find out if they have anything on their search for a car on Merchant." She nodded and ran off. "What would be the best route out of the building for them if they were heading for there?" Steve asked, looking at the blueprint.

Chin pointed at a back fire exit. "There," he said. "It's in an alley with a good line of sight from one end to the other. Hard to have police coverage without being obvious to anyone exiting. That would put them out close to Bishop and Merchant. They could blend into midday foot traffic and no one would know the difference."

"Their car could be in a parking garage," Danny said.

"Maybe, but my bet is if they could find somewhere quick to get to the car and out of town they found it." He looked up at the building, thinking. "We don't actually have to find the car," he said. "Just be sure we know where they're heading to find it."

Kono came back. "Duke says they haven't found anything definitive. Delivery vehicles, people parked...there's just no way to tell if any of them might be waiting for our robbers. They've tried calling the phones in there, per standard operating procedure, to establish a line of contact, but there's been no answer."

"They have their diamonds," Steve said. "What are they waiting for?" He looked at his watch, then his team. "If they go out that emergency exit, it'll set off an alarm, right? That must be it. SOP in a hostage situation is if it's not resolved in an hour, the first thing they do is cut power to the building."

"Which means the emergency exit would be wide open as an escape route," Danny finished.

Steve nodded. "Which means in five minutes, they'll be expecting the power to be cut, and they plan to waltz right out the fire exit." He stared at the exit for a moment. "Okay, we have to assume they have a backup plan in case this one doesn't work, and it's likely to be a lot more deadly to our hostages, so let's see if we can make this one fail without them realizing it until it's too late."

They scanned the alley with a long range scope and discovered two small cameras, shiny and new, above the door. "I'm betting they've got those streaming to their phones," Chin said.

"Okay, so we stay out of sight of that entire alley until they're out the door, got it?" The three of them nodded in unison. "Chin, Kono, take the north side, Danny and I will take the south. HPD guarding the other exits, just in case?"

Kono nodded. "Duke said they're ready."

"Good. When you're in position, tell them to cut the power."

Steve skirted the edge of anywhere the robbers might see them getting into place, Danny close behind. He heard Chin say they were in position, and Kono tell HPD to cut the power. Less than a minute went by before Kono relayed the message from HPD that the audio from the manager's phone sounded like the robbers were making their escape.

He glanced at Danny, who was focused and ready, as usual. Steve heard the fire exit door open, heard footsteps running their direction, and stepped into the alley. "Freeze! 5-0! Drop your weapons!"

The order was met with gunfire, and Steve returned fire as he ducked back behind his corner for cover. The firefight was over quickly--a handful of well-placed shots around the corner and all four suspects were on the ground.

Chin and Kono came running, helping to secure the two suspects still alive. Steve looked behind him, but Danny wasn't there. He was leaning against the wall, holding his arm, with blood seeping through his fingers.

"Danny!" Steve ran over to him, putting his arm around him, trying to lower him to the ground. "Sit."

"I'm fine."

"Sit your ass down," Steve hissed, dragging Danny to the ground with him. "Kono, get an ambulance!" he said before turning his attention back to Danny's arm. "Let me see."

He pried Danny's hand away from the bloody mess, but couldn't tell just how bad it was, only that there was a lot of blood. In the back of his mind, he knew that didn't mean it was necessarily bad, but it didn't stop his heart from feeling like there was a vice grip closing on it.

"Hey," Danny said, and Steve raised his eyes from the bleeding to meet Danny's gaze. "I'm fine."

"You're bleeding from a gunshot wound, Danny, you're not fine."

"It's not that bad," he said. "Sadly, I've had enough of them to tell."

Steve wet his lips, and saw Danny do the same, unable to take his eyes off Danny's mouth. He still remembered the taste of that mouth, unlike anything he'd ever had, and he wanted to taste again, to reassure himself that Danny was, indeed, fine. To feel his breath and know he was okay.

"Commander." Hands were pulling at his shoulders, and he looked up to see two EMTs standing over him. "Let us take care of Detective William's arm."

"Right, sorry."

Steve got up, moving just out of the way, but watching as the EMTs started work on Danny's arm. He relaxed a little when he heard one of them say it wasn't serious. Knowing Danny, he'd have bitched his head off at a scratch and declared a fatal wound nothing, so it was nice to see he'd been telling the truth.

"Boss."

Steve looked beside him to see Kono and Chin standing there, watching a little too closely, a little too knowingly. "I need to go," he said. "I have a...thing." He couldn't even find a good excuse. "Danny," he said, looking down in Danny's general direction, "take a week off for that arm."

"It's a scratch."

"It's not a scratch," Steve said, still avoiding looking Danny in the eye. "Regulations say a week, so take a week. Let your fiancée take care of you. End of story." He looked at Chin and Kono. "You got the clean up?"

They nodded. Kono started to say something, but Chin put his hand on her arm. "We'll take care of it," Chin said. "Go do your...thing."

Steve nodded at them and jogged off, ignoring Danny's loud bitching about what Steve could do with the regulations until he was far enough away he could no longer hear it.

***


	11. Chapter 11

Steve tossed back the last of the whiskey in his glass. He sat forward on the couch, reaching for the bottle, frowning as he realized it was empty. He put it down next to his phone, which had finally stopped buzzing.

He'd seen Danny's name on the caller ID every few minutes until he'd turned it over, and he could only assume all the rest of the calls had been from him as well. At least he'd finally laid off. He shouldn't be calling Steve, he should be basking in the attention of his fiancée, letting her take care of him and tend to his wounds.

The romanticized image that flitted through his head made him queasy. Or maybe that was the whiskey. He wasn't sure. All he knew was that he didn't want to think about Danny with Gabby. Or anyone.

A knock at the door startled him, his hand knocking the bottle over. He glanced at his silent phone. Clearly Danny couldn't stand being ignored. Steve pushed himself to his feet, drying his hands on his pants as he crossed to the door. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened them again and pulled the door open.

"Took you long enough," Cath said.

He blinked. "You're not Danny."

She gave him a half smile. "No, I'm not. Were you expecting him?"

"Yeah, I mean, no...." He scrubbed his face with his hand. "I don't know."

Her smile faded, and she pushed into the room, closing the door behind her. "What happened?"

Always the good friend, that was Catherine. He wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve her. But he couldn't keep her, not like this at least. It wasn't fair to her. "Look, Cath, we should talk...." He sighed, swaying a little on his feet.

"Hey, sit down." She led him over to the couch, and he dropped onto it, tilting his head back and closed his eyes. "I'm pretty sure that bottle was mostly full two days ago when we cleaned up from the party," she said.

"It was."

He heard her thoughtful sigh, and wasn't sure he wanted to hear whatever she was about to say next. "So you're hitting the whiskey, and you're not sure if you're expecting Danny...did a case go bad today?"

"We got the guys," Steve said. "But Danny got shot."

"I see." Her hand rested lightly on his arm. "I'm assuming if you weren't sure if he was coming that he wasn't too seriously hurt."

Steve shook his head. "Nothing serious."

"And you wanted to talk to me?"

He lifted his head, blinking at her. "Huh?"

"You said we should talk."

"Oh, right." He rubbed at his neck. Christ he was tired. "Look...I can't do this anymore."

She didn't look surprised. "So let me guess--one too many near death experiences and you finally figured it out?"

"Huh?"

"Danny." She smiled softly. "And you."

"Oh." Was he really that obvious? He didn't want to ask, because he was afraid of the answer. "Yeah."

She squeezed his arm. "I had a feeling, you know. I mean, the way the two of you act...." Her smile turned rueful. "Though I'd be lying if I said I hadn't hoped I was wrong."

"But you weren't." The words weren't easy to say, but he felt a little better saying them, having someone else know.

"So Danny broke off his engagement?"

He blinked at her. "Why would you think that?" he asked. "Just because I have a thing for him, that's no reason for him not to get married." He wished it was, but....

Her hand left his arm, and she sat back, frowning at him. "Okay, now I'm confused."

"Why?"

"I'd have put money on it going both ways."

"Danny doesn't feel the same way about me."

He wasn't sure why she was suddenly giving him a pitying look. "Steve, honey, you're a smart guy, but when it comes to relationships, you're kind of an idiot."

"Hey!"

"No, trust me. I have plenty of reason to know." She patted him on the arm. "I'd check your math on Danny," she said. He studied her, wondering if the alcohol had impaired his ability to figure out when he was being teased. "Seriously, Steve. I think you're wrong."

"If I'm wrong," he said, "then why isn't he here?"

She laughed at him. "Well, knowing you, probably because you pissed him off and then told him not to come around."

"I...uh...." He couldn't argue with the truth.

That only made her laugh harder. "You know," she said, when she'd stopped laughing, "you're horribly predictable. Your only hope is that he knows you better than you know yourself."

"Assuming he cares."

"He does. Trust me."

He realized suddenly that he'd basically just dumped her, and she was sitting here consoling him over his unrequited crush on someone else. She might have a point about his lack of relationship skills. "Cath...I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I'd never have stayed this long with my suspicions if you could hurt me, Steve. I'm a lot of things, but a masochist isn't one of them."

"You're amazing is what you are."

She smiled. "Thanks." She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "I'm still around if you need a friend. Or relationship advice."

"I don't need relationship advice," he protested.

"You really, really do." She stood, ruffling his hair with a gentle hand. "Call him, Steve."

He shook his head. "I can't. I told him to go let Gabby take care of him"

Her eye roll made him dizzy. "You really are an idiot."

"So Danny keeps telling me."

"At least he knows that much." She picked up his phone, looking at the screen. "And despite you telling him to go to Gabby, I see he's called you fourteen times."

He squirmed under her look. "Just to bitch at me for ordering him off work for a week."

"Right." She sighed. "Sober up," she said, dropping the phone in his lap, "and then call him."

"I can't."

"Call him."

"I can't."

She put her hands on her hips. "Fine," she said. "I'll wait until you're sober, and even until after your hangover, to pressure you again." She nodded at the phone. "But I'm betting if Danny called fourteen times he _won't_ wait. So you'd better be ready for him."

She patted him on the shoulder and smiled before she left the house.

***

Cath was wrong, Steve realized, as he woke up late the next morning with only a throbbing headache for company. Danny apparently would wait, if he even intended to come at all. Steve checked his phone, but there'd been no more missed calls since Danny had given up the night before.

He was probably safe in Gabby's arms by now, while she checked his bandage and made him soup or tea or something. Because that's what you did for someone you cared about when they were sick or hurt, right?

And where else should he be? Steve had ordered him to go there. He'd been throwing Danny at Gabby from the first time they'd met her. He really had nobody to blame but himself.

He rolled out of bed and changed into a pair of board shorts. A swim might help him clear the cobwebs out of his head so he could maybe do something productive with the rest of his Saturday. And if nothing else, at least it would be distraction.

Except it wasn't. He hadn't gone half a mile before he realized that all he'd done was take away any distractions available. His mind was full of Danny, bouncing around different moments, from the first time they'd met, to that one amazing kiss, to Danny leaning against the bank wall, holding his arm, blood pouring over his fingers.

He had a week, Steve realized, to figure out how to stick all those feelings into one of his boxes in his brain and lock them away. He wouldn't-- _couldn't_ \--lose Danny as a partner. If that meant shutting down completely, he'd do it. As long as Danny had his back in the field, that was what mattered. And that would be enough.

It would have to be.

He turned around when he couldn't take the sound of his own thoughts anymore, head down, cutting through the water quickly, anxious to get out and find some kind of distraction from his brain. At least his body was tired and pleasantly sore--maybe a nice, long shower would help. After all, there was no one to mock him for breaking the three minute rule.

He toweled off on the lanai before going into the house, still scrubbing at his hair as he went into the living room.

"How was China?"

Danny's voice stopped Steve dead in his tracks. He left the towel in place over his face for a moment, with the wild thought that maybe if he didn't take it down, Danny wasn't really there.

"Oh, so you're going to ignore me in person now, Steve? How very five-years-old of you."

Okay, so that didn't work.

Steve lowered the towel, holding it in front of himself. Danny was sitting on the couch, watching him carefully. "What are you doing here?" Steve asked, annoyed with the hoarseness of his voice. He could only hope Danny would think it was just from the swim.

"You wouldn't answer my calls and you wouldn't call me back," Danny said. "So you didn't leave me a lot of choice but to come over here, bum arm and all."

His arm was fine. Steve could tell it wasn't any other worse than the first day they'd met, when he'd been shot and then finished the day helping chase down Hesse, or in the woods when he'd saved Steve from Wilson Hines after taking a bullet in the same arm. But if Steve admitted that out loud, Danny would have an excuse to come back to work before Steve was ready to deal with it.

"You shouldn't have," Steve said, managing to look Danny in the eye for the first time since yesterday. Well, okay, he looked Danny in the ear, at least. "You should take care of your arm."

"My arm is fine," Danny snapped. "And anyway, I don't need it to be a hundred percent for us to talk."

Steve took a deep breath, clutching his towel a little closer. "There's nothing to talk about."

"That didn't work yesterday, what makes you think it's going to work today?"

He supposed hoping for another hostage situation, or maybe a nice serial killer, was the wrong thing to do. "Look, Danny, I told you yesterday that it was an accident. It won't happen again. I know you're engaged."

"So you keep telling me."

"As I recall," Steve snapped, "it was the first thing _you_ told _me_ after I kissed you."

Danny pushed off the couch with one hand, taking a few steps forward, but still keeping some distance between them. "Since you brought it up," he said. "What was that?"

"I told you it was an acc--"

"I swear to God, you tell me it was an accident one more time and I will punch you."

"Go ahead," Steve said stonily. He deserved it. Hell, he still wasn't sure why it hadn't been the first thing Danny had done when Steve had kissed him. But no, Danny hadn't punched him. He hadn't even pushed him away until his phone had interrupted them.

No, until then, he'd been kissing Steve back.

Which he needed to forget about. Because like it or not, Danny was taken.

"Steven!"

Steve blinked, meeting Danny's eyes out of sheer surprise. "What?" he said, unable to look away now. Danny looked tired, his eyes a little bruised, reminding Steve of his own reflection in the mirror this morning.

"I said I needed to know what that was."

"What what was?"

"That kiss."

Steve sighed, ready to say it was an accident again, but something in Danny's eyes stopped him. "Why'd you ask Gabby to marry you?" he asked instead.

Danny blinked. "What?"

"Why'd you ask Gabby to marry you?" Steve asked again, suddenly needing an answer. "You told Mom you were taking it slow, but a few months later you're on one knee with a ring. And then you started dodging the woman you just asked to marry you."

"It was the Masimoto case," Danny said quickly. "I was worried about someone coming after her to get to me, remember? You certainly bugged me about it enough, I can't imagine you've forgotten."

There was that twitch in Danny's left eye again. "You're lying."

"I'm not!"

And no, Steve knew he wouldn't want Gabby to get hurt because of him, but that still wasn't the reason. Or at least not the biggest one.

And he'd kissed Steve back.

"Why are you so anxious to get back to work?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Because I like my job? And I'm not some delicate flower that needs to be stowed away for a scratch on my arm."

"You're newly engaged," Steve pressed. "You could take the time and be with your fiancée."

"I'm not a slacker."

"You're not answering the question, either."

"Yes, I am."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Not the whole truth, then," he said. "Why are you more interested in work than your fiancée?"

"Fuck you."

"No, Danny, come on." Steve took a few steps closer, and saw Danny flinch as if he was going to step back before he held his ground. "Why are you spending more time with me than with her?"

"I said fuck you."

"In fact, Danny, I think the real question isn't why I kissed you? I think the real question is why did you kiss me back?"

Danny stared at him for a few seconds. "You're an asshole, you know that?" he said, taking a step back, arms starting to flail. "Three years I've been here--right _here_ ," he said, pointing at the space between them, "closer than your shadow sometimes, and you do nothing."

He shook his head, hand shoving through his hair before going on to illustrate his next sentence. "And then I go and get engaged--and despite what evidence there may be to the contrary, I take that kind of thing very seriously--and you kiss me. You want a 'why' question? Why did _you_ kiss _me_? Why now?"

"I didn't know," Steve said quietly, suddenly tired of hiding and just needing to get it out. "I just...I didn't know. I mean, I was figuring it out--I was having dreams and I was getting the picture, and even starting to think somewhere in the back of my mind about maybe doing something about it...and then you went and got engaged. Right in front of me."

He saw shock and surprise on Danny's face, and something else that he couldn't place, but it kept him going. "So then I told myself it was fine. It was good. You'd stay, and you'd be happy, and those were the only two things I wanted."

"And then you decided that kissing me would get you those things?" Danny said, brow furrowed.

"No. I just--I couldn't help it." Steve looked for a way to describe it. "You're like...a flame. Or a magnet, or something --I don't know. You're just...you're there. _Everywhere_. You fill up the room wherever you are, and you're unavoidable, and you're almost too much."

Steve took a deep breath. "And then you leave," he said, and cleared his throat against the hoarseness there. "And everything's empty."

He met Danny's gaze. "I don't want that," Steve said haltingly. "I can't...I need you here. On whatever terms, but just don't go." He heard the desperation in his own voice, but he couldn't keep it out. "Don't leave 5-0, don't leave Hawaii."

Danny stared at him until Steve wanted to shake him for an answer. "Okay, look," Danny said slowly, "just...let me..."

He stepped forward, and Steve was too stunned to move as Danny grabbed him, pulling his head down for a kiss.

It was different from the one at HQ, Danny's hands more sure as they stuttered their way down Steve's naked back, holding a little too tightly to slide easily. Steve had one hand in Danny's hair, and the other arm was wrapped all the way across Danny's back and gripping him under his arm as if Steve was never letting go.

Danny's tongue pushed inside Steve's mouth, tentative at first, then gaining confidence. Steve sucked on it, pulling his head back just enough for it to slip out of his mouth before he chased it again, licking his own way into Danny's mouth.

It was even more amazing than before, and Steve's hands drifted down Danny's back, well on their way to his ass when Danny released him, stepping back and out of Steve's embrace.

"Okay. Okay. That was...okay, I have to, uh...excuse me."

He gave Steve one last scorching look, then shook his head and turned, walking out the door without looking back.

***


	12. Chapter 12

Steve sat in the living room, staring at the blank TV, the light fading as the sun sped towards the ocean. He'd showered sea salt and Danny off his body, not that the shower had done anything to kill the feeling that Danny's body had somehow branded him. He'd tried to distract himself with a dozen different chores, but nothing had stuck, and he'd ended up sitting on the couch, trying not to think.

Not that he'd been very successful at that, either.

That last kiss kept running through his mind. He may or may not have been indulging in wishful thinking that Danny had kissed him back at HQ, but there was definitely no mistaking the fact that Danny had kissed him this time.

And then he'd run off.

No explanations, and no word since he'd run out as if the house was on fire, with just one last look that was hot enough to set it ablaze. It had been hours, and Steve's phone was as silent as a brick.

He didn't have the balls to call Danny, either. Not after the way Danny had left.

He heard the distinctive sound of a Camaro growing closer, and held his breath when he heard it pull into the drive. Steve was off the couch and halfway across the room before he realized he didn't know what kind of mood Danny would be in, and he forced himself to stop where he was.

Footsteps sounded on the porch, but only when the door opened without a knock did Steve really think it was Danny.

Danny, who came in, closed the door behind him, and leaned against it, just staring at Steve without a word, looking as if he'd gone a few rounds in the cage with Chuck Liddell, minus any visible bruises.

The longer he stood there without saying anything, the more Steve was convinced Danny was just looking for the words to say he was leaving. "Look, Danny," he said, when he couldn't take the waiting anymore, "you can't leave 5-0. We need you. And you need the job. I'll do whatever you need, okay? Just don't go."

"Will you just shut up?"

He sounded as tired as he looked. "I'll shut up if you'll start talking," Steve said.

"Okay, look." Danny pushed off the door, taking a few small steps towards Steve. "I didn't leave here to find a new job or something, okay? I left...." He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, blowing out a long breath before opening his eyes again and meeting Steve's gaze. "I left because I had to go explain things to Gabby."

Which could mean a whole host of things. "Okay."

"I've fucked this all up royally," Danny said, taking another step forward, "and I'm sorry--though believe me, you are welcome to your share of the blame there, my friend. But it's not all on you."

Steve would gladly take any blame Danny wanted to assign if he'd just get to the point. "So you went to see Gabby."

Danny nodded. "I had to talk to her first, before I could...." He shoved both hands into his hair, smoothing it back in a nervous motion. "I couldn't lie to her. I had to talk to her before I did anything...else."

"Like what?" Steve asked, wondering how he could get words out when he was holding his breath.

"I don't think," Danny said, his words as slow as his steps as he closed the distance between himself and Steve, "that it's right to start something with someone when you're engaged to someone else."

Start something...? Steve wasn't quite ready to hope, but.... "And now?" he asked.

"I'm not engaged to anyone," Danny said quietly as he took the last step that put him toe-to-toe with Steve. "So that leaves the question of you."

"I was never engaged."

Danny gave him a look. "But are you involved?"

Steve shook his head. "I was never really involved, either," he said. "But Cath and I are officially friends _without_ benefits since last night."

The first hint of a smile showed on Danny's face, and Steve swallowed hard against the jolt it sent through his gut. "Good," Danny said, with a little nod that seemed to be more for himself than Steve.

Before Steve could ask what that meant, his shoulders were being grabbed and yanked forward, pulling him hard against Danny, their lips meeting with enough force that Steve's teeth dug into his upper lip. The kiss made the others pale in comparison--Danny had been holding back, Steve thought, or maybe it was just the dawning knowledge that Danny was a) not getting married and b) right here with his mouth on Steve's and his hands working their way up Steve's naked back and taking his shirt with them.

Danny let him go long enough to rip the shirt over Steve's head, tossing it aside and putting his hands right back where they belonged, on Steve's body. He felt Danny's fingers digging into his back, the nails just long enough to press without really hurting.

Not that Steve would be feeling pain anyway. He could slam his head into a door and he wouldn't even feel it. Because Danny was so hot and hard against him, so _there_ , moving constantly, even in the circle of Steve's arms, his mouth almost never leaving Steve's, and Steve wanted to keep him there forever, to never let him move so much as an inch away.

Except he had to, or else they'd never get their clothes off, and they were wearing too fucking many clothes. Steve reached between them to try to get to Danny's buttons, but his fingers were too uncoordinated, and he gave up with a growl that got an answering one from Danny just before Steve grabbed both sides of Danny's shirt and pulled hard.

Buttons hit the floor, but the shirt was out of the way, and Steve pressed his naked chest to Danny's, the hair tickling him, making him want to laugh and bite Danny's skin at the same time.

"Shirt," Danny muttered, lips against Steve's neck, teeth probably leaving marks on the muscle that led down to Steve's collarbone.

Good. Steve wanted the marks. He hoped everyone could see them. "Shirt?" he asked, while his tongue traced Danny's earlobe, tugging on it with his teeth before moving to that spot just below it that made Danny gasp when Steve bit down.

"You're buying," Danny nipped Steve's collarbone, and Steve tried to see if he could actually get his arms around Danny so tight that his hands could meet on Danny's chest, "me a new one."

"I'll buy you the entire fucking shirt department at Nordstrom," Steve muttered, yanking the shirt down and off Danny's body the rest of the way. It fell out of his hands, and he didn't care where it went as long as his hands were on Danny's skin again.

But there were still pants to deal with, and Danny's hands were making short work of Steve's shorts, shoving them to the ground. He stepped out of them as he moved backwards, aiming for the couch, but missing, his normal ability to navigate his entire house in pitch dark gone completely, as his leg smacked so hard into the coffee table he felt the table move.

He didn't feel the pain, though, because Danny's hand was on his dick, and he couldn't feel anything else anywhere. All his nerve endings seemed to have joined all the blood in his body in congregating in his dick, leaving him dizzy and with more sensitivity than he'd ever had there in his life.

He swore he could feel every callus, every whorl of Danny's fingerprints, as Danny stroked a hand lightly up Steve's dick. It was straining towards Danny--never having been as confused as Steve's brain about what it wanted in the first place. "Couch," Steve said, the word muffled by Danny's tongue in his mouth.

"Pants," Danny said back, and Steve reached down, thanking God and everyone that Danny had stopped wearing belts, because he wasn't sure he had enough brain cells left to deal with a buckle. The button almost had him, until he just pulled hard and it joined the ones from Danny's shirt on the floor. He'd buy Danny the fucking pants department, too, if that was what it took.

Steve shoved at the pants until he could feel Danny's naked thighs brush against his own. He walked Danny backwards, looking for the couch again, knowing it had to be close.

Then they were both falling, and Steve managed to catch them with an arm on the seat of the couch, landing with his ass on the floor just in front of it, Danny in his arms, sideways across his lap, his pants around his ankles.

"Shoes," Danny said, through lips that were red and swollen and looked thoroughly kissed.

"I'll buy you those, too," Steve replied absently, leaning in to capture Danny's mouth again.

"No, still on," Danny said, though he didn't stop Steve from kissing him.

Steve reached for Danny's feet, pulling Danny with him so he didn't have to stop kissing him, but he got to a point where it was either let go of Danny's mouth or not reach Danny's feet.

So the shoes would stay. Steve twisted them both to the side, rolling so that Danny landed on his ass, his back against the couch, Steve straddling his lap.

Their dicks brushed against each other, and Danny smiled, a beautiful, brilliant smile, one that clearly told Steve he was a genius. Steve liked to think the only reason those words didn't follow was because Steve's hand wrapped around both their dicks, and Danny's expression went from that smile to an open mouthed expression bordering on the obscene, as he thrust up into Steve's hand.

A few seconds later, Danny turned his head, and Steve had to stop kissing him. He frowned, even as he kept kissing his way down Danny's neck to his shoulder. Steve felt Danny's hand join his, Danny's wet now, and realized what he'd been doing.

He let Danny put his hand on the inside, lessening the friction, allowing for more speed. Steve wrapped his hand around Danny's as he found Danny's mouth once more.

His tongue was salty from where he'd been licking his palm a moment before, and Steve found himself actually jealous of Danny's hand for half a second. Danny's tongue should be licking him and nothing else, dammit.

Then again, the feel of that wet hand on Steve's dick, helping hold his dick tightly against Danny's as they thrust together, was worth it. He was so close, could tell Danny was, too, in the way he was moving harder and faster--nearly bucking Steve off him a few times, only Steve's strength and sheer determination that nothing was getting him off Danny keeping that from happening.

He was also making these noises that Steve could never have imagined. Hot, needy little noises, sounding as if they were escaping Danny's throat without him even knowing it. Steve reached up with one hand to wrap it around the side and back of Danny's throat, feeling the vibration those sounds made every time, wondering if he could get his tongue far enough down Danny's throat to feel it that way as well.

He could not, however, climb inside Danny, no matter how hard he might be trying. Which was just as well, because then he wouldn't have all this amazing friction, the slide of skin that was bringing him over the edge much faster than he wanted.

He tried to hold off, not wanting it to end, but he couldn't, the heat that had started in his gut feeling like it was bursting out of every pore in his body. It rolled through him in waves, each one getting closer and closer to his dick until he spilled over, crashing like the most amazing wave he'd ever ridden, only so, so much better. Better than anything ever in the history of the human race.

Danny was the only thing he was even remotely aware of, managing to keep his hand around Danny's hand and their cocks until Danny followed him over the edge a moment later. He was still moving a little, aborted, jerky movements, when he realized that the air felt a lot cooler around them.

It was easier to move against Danny now, too, sweat slicking their skin. Steve unwrapped his hand from around their dicks at last, stretching the fingers, not giving a damn about the cramping in them. He didn't care if they stuck that way permanently--it would just make it easier to do that again and again.

That is, assuming that was what Danny wanted.

Steve lifted his head, blinking down at Danny through the last of his haze. "Hi," Steve said softly.

Danny giggled, a sound Steve had never heard quite like that from Danny before, and hoped to God he heard it again. Preferably with a recording device at hand. "You greet everybody that way?" Danny asked, giggling again.

"Only the most special people," Steve said, not caring if it sounded ridiculous. He leaned in for a kiss. "We should probably get off the floor," he added, as his knees protested the hard wood pressing against his kneecaps.

"I don't know," Danny said, his hands sliding down Steve's back, "it's kind of comfy."

"My bed is much comfier," Steve said, ducking his head when Danny didn't reply right away. "I mean, unless you have somewhere you need to be."

Danny's dry hand cupped Steve's cheek. "There's nowhere else I need to be," he said softly. "And nowhere else I want to be, either."

"Good." Steve couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. "Good."

He used the couch to push himself to his feet, wobbling a little before getting steady. He held out a hand to Danny and pulled him up.

Danny looked down at their bodies. "Maybe a shower first?" Danny suggested.

"Yeah," Steve said, already picturing the way Danny was going to look with water streaming down his body. He touched the bandage on Danny's arm, an odd-textured wrap, not the usual gauze. "Do you need to do anything to that for the shower?"

Danny shook his head. "Waterproof," he said. "I don't need to change it until morning."

"Good." He leaned in for another kiss. "I'm sorry," he said, resting his forehead against Danny's, his eyes closed.

"For what? For once you weren't the reason I got shot."

Steve huffed, opening his eyes and lifting his head. "For taking so long to figure this out."

Danny shrugged. "I could've forced you to see it, if I hadn't been so scared of it myself." He shook his head. "We're a couple of great detectives, aren't we?"

"Lucky for the people of Hawaii we're better at detecting crime?"

Danny laughed. "Something like that," he said, stepping back and putting a hand on Steve's shoulder. "Shower," he said, pushing Steve towards the stairs before moving past him, leading the way.

Steve followed gladly.

\---

END

**Author's Note:**

> Want to learn more about me and my writing? Visit my page at <http://www.jamiemeadowswrites.com/>


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